Armored Tales: Tenku's Tale
by Dragon Dagger
Summary: The story of how the Armor of Tenku became the Armor of Strata. At least my version of it
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

In a time that has long since past. Five extraordinary Samurai warriors were gifted with a magic armor and abilities far beyond that of a normal mortal. Indeed, this armor was so unique in that it made its bearer immortal to any thing except a mortal wound. These five warriors came from five different walks of life and five different areas of Japan. This is the story of Just one of those armors and the warrior it chose.

Touma was known as the best archer in the small village he lived in. It was something he lived for almost as much as he hungered to know all that he could about how the world worked. He was a young man, but even as a child he had practiced with his bow and arrows to perfect his aim under all conditions. Soon enough there was not anything he could not shoot from any position. Yet even as a boy he preferred to shoot from the trees. Raining arrows down upon the enemy, or just being the sniper that none could find, he was good. No one doubted that except one man.

Totoro was the second best archer in the same village area and no one doubted that he came by his gift by the hard and diligent work he put into the art of drawing the bow. However he lacked that finesse that seemed to glow and radiate from Touma as he drew the bow with his quiet grace and released on target.

Totoro was also a jealous man and did not like the fact that a boy almost half his age was now the best archer in the area. So he decided to do something about it.

One morning he paid a little call to Touma while he was out back of his small hut practicing. Touma was not ignorant of the situation but he also wanted to see just what the archer would do, so he listened to the older archer. It was a challenge.

They were to take their horses out on a week long trek to the mountains and live there for the time and face a series of archery challenges. It seemed simple enough and to Touma it seemed rather harmless and as he agreed to the challenge, he was already planning for several contingencies that would and could happen out in the wilds and with Totoro.

As they reached the spot several days later for the encampment, Touma was still in rather good spirits and Totoro was more frustrated than ever. The boy just seemed to have the dragon▓s luck on his side in everything they shot at. He smiled to himself, That would soon change. Soon enough his damnable luck was going to run out though.

Two more days into the challenge trek to the mountains they climbed to a cliff area that was riddled with caves. Totoro knew this area intimately and knew that there was a small glittering blue crystal in one of the caves right on the edge. As he told Touma about it he did not tell the young man that the crystal was also the keystone to a large rock slide that could easily bury the both of them.

As they reached the point Totoro pointed up and Touma looked. He could see the glittering object almost 30 meters up the cliff face and studied it. It was a rather small target, but small targets were easier for him to shoot at since it helped him narrow his focus down to the one target. Totoro also knew this and was counting on one of them to hit the crystal and start a rock slide that would bury the young Touma forever in a rock slide.

They took their bows and quivers to the site of the shooting and as they studied the shot Totoro gave Touma offer of first or second shot. Touma was if nothing else courteous in his manners on the field and since he had last first shot he opted for the second place.

Totoro drew and shot carefully at the small sphere but in the end still missed. His arrow lodged into a space just under the crystal. He had made a small grimace of disappointment but left the shot to Touma.

As Touma studied the shot, he knew after a few moments that he could make it and get the crystal to come down to him so that he could study such a small wonder. He aimed carefully and released sending the arrow flying true to his aim and they both heard the small ping as the arrow embedded itself between the crystal and the rock it sat on.

As the crystal fell a small roar of thunder was heard. As they looked around they could see the rock slide starting. Touma grabbed the crystal that had fallen and took off after Totoro towards the horses they had left behind. Unfortunately because he stopped to get the crystal he was several meters behind Totoro and the rock slide fell atop him. He was buried under several tons of rock.

Totoro was not an unfeeling soul and placed a small marker at the base of the rock slide for Touma to rest easy now that he had gone to meet with the ancients of his clan. He mounted his horse and took the reigns of Touma▓s horse and led him to town. Not dreaming that he would ever see the young man again. 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Touma saw the rock slide coming but he still wanted to see the small spherical crystal that he had been shooting at, so as he grabbed it he looked up and was buried under the rock. It was dark and very closed in the rock he noted and he knew that he preferred the openness of the trees. The thought shocked him. He was alive!

Bruised, battered and scraped, yet he was alive. As he thought about his body he soon came to the hand that held the small crystal. He noted that in his mind the small thing was glowing a dark blue, kid of the color of the evening sky when there were no clouds.

As he studied the thing in his mind he heard a chuckling. ~Who▓s there!~

His mind whirled as he tried to identify the voice that was chuckling at him. It was not a malicious chuckle. No, it was more like the one his teacher often did after he had asked so many questions about the world and its wonders. ~Touma Hashiba. It is a pleasure to finally have met you.~

Touma was shocked to have been identified and was a little scared that it was his ancestors coming to meet him when the voice chuckled at him again. ~No young Touma. I am not your ancestor. But if seeing something will make you feel better then here.~ What Touma saw in his mind was a most splendid suit of samurai armor in the same blue that he had seen glowing in his mind before. The thing that entranced him the most about the armor was the golden bow that was hooked to the back.

~Who are you and what is it that you want with me?~ Touma wondered that this voice would even talk to him at all since he could feel the incredible pain of the crushing rock draining the life out of him quickly.

~I am known as the Armor spirit, Tenku. I saw what the man did to trick you and I am sorry. But you have now met me and if you wish I can help you get yourself out of this pickling that you seem to have yourself in.~ The armor stood and moved to Touma and Touma being who he was, stood transfixed at the mask that now came into view. It was comforting and horrifying at the same time.

~Accept me and learn from me Touma and you will live to take what ever action you deem Totoro worthy of having.~ The armor bowed and as Touma bowed to accept the armor and the spirit, their foreheads touched and a small explosion went off.

When the smoke cleared Touma stepped out of the rubble and immediately noted that he was whole again and in the Blue armor that he saw in his mind. He knew he had to beat Totoro back to the village and with out his horse that seemed an impossibility until he felt himself lifting off the ground. ~Wha-a-at??~

~Relax my young friend. You need to get home and I understand why. So home you go.~

As he flew Touma knew he was in his home element and reveled in it. While flying he looked closely at the Golden Bow that he had admired at a distance and found it was everything his eyes told him.

As he landed in the back of his hut he asked the armor spirit to remove the armor and when he found that he was not exactly dressed for company, quickly bathed and dressed and went to the edge of town that Totoro would be coming in at with the story of how Touma was killed in the middle of the contest.

What Totoro saw when he came up to the edge of town scared the life out of him and as he turned and dropped the reigns of Touma▓s horse he took off in another direction entirely. What he had seen was Touma standing on the edge of town, glowing with a dark blue light. Totoro had seen the rock slide hit Touma and thought he was a spirit back to avenge his death. This so scared the older archer that he was never seen again.

Touma did hold to his word and as he learned and eventually fell in love and married, his son was a lithe blue haired infant. But as he grew he was as good with the bow as his father. The boy▓s name was Totoro in respect for the man had given Touma a most unexpected gift. One day a miss shot arrow at a tournament hit Touma. The wound was fatal and as he quickly consulted with the Armor spirit, it was agreed.

He called Totoro to him and passed on the small crystal. "Totoro, You know the story of your name, and you know what this is. I may have been allowed to live a long time because of this gift, but it is not to be. I have to leave this life now and I pass on the Tenku Armor. Listen to him well and keep the crystal in the family. Keep the legend alive and pass him only to the one in the next generation that will keep it sacred and secret. In this way we will live on as the Archers of Japan. Remember."

As Totoro took the crystal from his father▓s hand, a brilliant blue flash followed and then his father was gone. Tenku comforted him only somewhat with the knowledge that he would be able to remember his father.

It is in this manner and others that the Tenku armor was handed down through the Hashiba Family. One generation to the next, each had an archer of exceptional skill and ability. More often than not this one of the sons was a daughter. But always they had blue hair and Tenku▓s approval to mark them. The legend was not always passed down but it was always remembered and told. The times changed and so did Tenku▓s name. He was known as Tenku, but as the times changed, his armored self became better known as Strata and was finally passed down to a young man named Rowen at his birth.

And in this ending, there is the beginning of another, far grander tale. The stories of a battle and defeat of the Daemon lord Talpa in. The Ronin Warriors. 


End file.
